The Beginning of a Legend
by Sailor Enlil
Summary: One-Shot - A possible origin story of the love between Serenity and Endymion, as well as the origin of the Silver Crystal


The Beginning of a Legend

Synopsis: A possible origin story of the love between Serenity and Endymion, as well as the origin of the Silver Crystal

Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation.

* * *

It was a routine day in the fields at the base of Mount Latmus during the spring. Each morning was greeted by legions of flowers that danced in the gentle breeze. The birds flew by with their morning chirps. The sheep fed on the grass, kept in check by a working dog. The morning was completed by the arrival of the field's shepard. 

He was a handsome lad. Tall, hair black as ebony, the most beautiful face a man could have, and excellent build. He was the son of Aethlius, son of the mighty Olympian ruler Zeus, and of Calyce, daugher of Aeolus. Perhaps his handsome disposition was an inheritance from the great God of thunder and lightning himself.

By nightfall his day was completed. He finished his meal that his mother prepared for him to take to the field knowing he'd remain there till night, and was just about set to return home, when he glimpsed at the sky, and beheld the silver shining disc that dominated the heavens, the full moon. As he glanced at the heavenly orb, he could almost swear he could hear a maiden's voice calling to him from it. He could not understand why, but as he continued staring at the moon, he became drowsy. He sat down from sudden fatigue, and moved to a bail of fresh dried grass left uneaten by the sheep he tended. He lay down on his back, and finally drifted to sleep. As his eyes closed, still looking at the moon, he could almost make out instead a face of a beautiful woman looking at him...

She was a sight to behold. A most beautiful maiden with long golden hair in a most unusual hairstyle - set in a form with a pair of orbs the size of plums, one on each side of her head, with a long golden ponytail streaming from each orb. Her eyes were blue as the sea, gentle as the night. Her smile was the most radiant a maiden could have. Her skin was fair and delicate, and she was wearing a dress as silvery white as the moon itself. Most unusual about her was a mark on her forehead that resembled a golden cresent opening upwards. As the lad slept, she knelt beside him, stroking his fine hair, caressing his lovely face, kissing his lips. She whispered words of endearment to his ears, and held his face to hers tightly. She sighed by the fact that he remained asleep througout the night, but felt assured that he would always be hers.

He awoke the next morning on the bail of grass with a start. He wondered why he'd spent the night in the fields. He got up and rushed home to bathe, change, and have his breakfast, and was scolded by his worried mother. He returned to the fields to continue his duties. As he watched the sheep, he pondered over what happened the previous night. Even though he was sleeping in the fields, it was a most comfortable sleep, as if he was in the arms of a woman, safe from harm. He could almost picture her beautiful face, the lovely blue eyes, her long golden hair set with the strange pair of orbs, a most breathtaking smile, and a strange cresent mark on her forehead. He wondered if there really was such a woman. By the end of his shift, he had his dinner at his spot as he always had, and was set to return home. Before he started on his trek homeward, he felt the strange calling again and looked up at the full moon. Once again he was overcome with drowsiness, and lay down on the same bail of dry grass he slept on the previous night, and finally fell into slumber.

She was with him once again. Her lovely blue eyes looked upon him with desire. Her delicate hands stroked his hair, caressed his face, and held his hands. Looking at her sleeping beloved, she bent down and kissed him, much longer than the previous night. The lingering kiss sending warmth through her heart. She still longed for the day he would be awake to see her and behold her, to hear his voice telling her of his love for her. As she sat up after the long lingering kiss, her eyes filled with tears.

* * *

Two days and two nights had gone since the mysterious maiden's second night with the handsome shepard. Zeus was at his throne on Mount Olympus pondering on the day's activities on earth. It has come to his attention that the moon had suddenly gone dark after two days of being full. He was about to consult his son Hermes for advice when he was approached by one of the Muses. 

"Father, you have a visitor. The Lord of the Sun, Helios, seeks your counsel." said the muse.

"Let him approach my child." said Zeus.

The muse bowed, then approached the door to open it. In came the Sun God Helios, dressed in his golden garmets and wearing the crown of light that shone so brightly in the palace that the muses shielded their eyes, yet Zeus was not fazed and looked upon the lord of light with dignity.

"Lord Zeus, King of Olympus, I seek counsel with you for I have a most serious problem."

"What is it that troubles you, bright one?"

"It is my sister Selene. As you might have known, her light has vanished, and the night is no longer lit by the moon. The people fear the night due to the resulting darkness. I have tried to reason with her to restore her light, but she wouldn't even look upon me, lest speak to me. I wish for your advise on how to bring her about. I wish to know why her light has been extinguished."

"Very well. I will send my son Hermes to speak with her."

As the dark night came, Hermes, the messenger god, flew to the peak of Mount Latmus where the moon resided during the day. There he found Selene, the moon goddess. She had the same striking beauty as the maiden who visited the handsome shepard, the same gentle blue eyes, the same golden hair but was let down and free flowing. But the smile was no longer in her face, and she wore a black dress, as if in mourning, and the cresent mark on her forehead was now dull yellow and lost its golden luster. Indeed, when Hermes saw her, his heart melted, for her face had shown of supressed sorrow, as she tried to hold back her tears.

"Lady Selene, what has become of you? Why have you extinguished your light? Why have you left the night shrouded in darkness?" pleaded Zeus' messenger.

The sorrowful maiden looked up to him. She did not answer, but just stared at him for a moment, then looked down, still in grief.

"You need not hide you pain from me. For I, Hermes, assure you that my father, the mighty Zeus, wishes to aid you in your problems, whatever they may be." said the messenger god assuredly.

Selene finally broke into tears, and collapsed into Hermes' arms, sobbing profusely. "Oh son of Zeus, have mercy on my aching heart. I have fallen for a handsome shepard lad. Each time I come near him, he falls into slumber, only awakening when I leave as the dawn arrives. Yet after the third night, he no longer awakens. He remains in sleep, as if in death. I cannot help but blame myself for his eternal slumber. I only wished to love him, and feel his love returned to me. Please, help me, I beg of you!"

"Come with me, Selene, my father will do what he can to help you. Do not weep, for your brother's heart is aching for you as well." Hermes takes Selene's hand, and leads her to Olympus. They arrive there with the concerned Helios awaiting. His heart lightens upon sight of her.

"My dear sister, please let me know what is in your heart. I only wish to see joy in your face" said Helios.

"Oh dearest brother, forgive me for refusing you, for my heart is full of pain." said Selene, embracing her brother. She asks to go to one of the bathing chambers of Olympus so she can fix herself. She emerges back in her original beauty, her silver-white dress, her unique twin-orbed twin-ponytailed hairstyle, and the sparkling golden cresent on her forehead.

* * *

They approached the great hall of Zeus, paid their respects for the great god of Olympus, and Selene presented her case to him. Zeus realized that it must have been the work of his mischeveous grandson Eros, for once one of Eros' golden arrows strikes the heart of anyone, god or mortal, he or she will fall for the first being of opposite gender in sight forever, and if that love is never consummated, the victim of Eros' arrow will be fated to tragedy, most likely that of painful death by his or her own hand. Furthermore, Selene's power of night would cause any mortal to fall into slumber if approached by her, which would explain the young lad's sleep, but now he was saturated with such power, and henceforth slept forever. 

"My dearest child, I will grant your wish. Your love with the young lad will come to pass, even though not it will not come in this lifetime, for he may only be awaknened by rebirth. Thus I swear by the River Styx, in due time, you and your love will have eternal joy and rule over the greatest kingdom the earth will ever see."

At that, Zeus instructed Helios to bring the young sheperd lad's body to Olympus. When the shepard's body is retrieved, he is layed on a specially prepared couch. Selene knelt before him, gazing at him and holding him for one last time. Zeus then caused Selene to fall asleep beside her beloved, then he took the ambrosia from her and her body dissolves into moondust, leaving a silver shining gem, her starseed. He then ordered Hermes to bring the silver starseed to the moon to restore its light. Zeus then ordered his daugher Artemis, the huntress, to guard the moon so that the starseed will never be taken from it, until such time that Selene will be reborn. Helios then posed a question to Zeus.

"My Lord, without the ambrosia, Selene will be mortal when she is reborn. Is she fated to be one?" asked Helios.

"She will be mortal when she is first reborn. But when her time comes, she will regain immortaility. My son Hephaestus will fashon a suitable vessel to contain her ambrosia, and her powers." answered Zeus. Zeus then called for his son Hephaestus, the craftsman and blacksmith of the gods, and gave him the task of creating the vessel for Selene's ambrosia. At that, Hephaestus fashioned from his forge a large crystal of purest silver. Zeus took the silver crystal and sealed Selene's ambrosia in it, causing it to shine with immense brilliance. He then ordered Hermes to take the silver crystal to the moon, also to be guaded by Artemis.

Zeus then turned his attention to the young lad. He dissolved the lad's body, leaving a golden starseed where his body once lay. He then entrusted the golden starseed to Helios making him its guardian, who then took it to his holy city of Heliopolis, to be passed to several generations of great men, in order that the starseed will grow in bravery, wisdom, and love from the experience of those men.

In due time, Zeus' oath will be fulfilled, and Selene, who will hence be known as Serenity, and Endymion, for that is the name of the handsome lad, will one day find eternal love and happiness, and rule the earth in justice and wisdom for centuries to come.


End file.
